---
title: "Nigerian police use teargas to quash protests over separatist leader's detention"
description: "ABUJA, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Nigerian police fired teargas on Monday and occupied major roads in the capital Abuja to stop demonstrations called to protest the continued detention of separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu, who is on trial facing terrorism charges."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-10-20-nigerian-police-use-teargas-to-quash-protests-over-separatist-leaders-detention/"
published: "2025-10-20T13:26:28"
updated: "2025-10-20T13:26:29"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 147
---

# Nigerian police use teargas to quash protests over separatist leader's detention

> ABUJA, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Nigerian police fired teargas on Monday and occupied major roads in the capital Abuja to stop demonstrations called to protest the continued detention of separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu, who is on trial facing terrorism charges.

By Reuters · Published 20 October 2025, 15:26 SAST · Updated 20 October 2025, 15:26 SAST

## Key points
- In a dramatic display of state power reminiscent of a poorly directed action film, armed police and soldiers turned Abuja into a no-go zone for protesters rallying behind Nnamdi Kanu, the British citizen and leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra Movement, who remains locked in a legal battle over charges that many believe are as politically motivated as they are serious.
- Nnamdi Kanu, a British citizen and leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra Movement, advocates for the secession of southeastern Nigeria.
- In Abuja, police and military forces clashed with protesters, employing teargas and armored vehicles to suppress demonstrations.
- Supporters of Kanu claim his ongoing detention since 2021 is politically motivated and demand his release and dismissal of terrorism charges.
- The conflict echoes the tragic history of the Biafran civil war, which claimed over a million lives and began in 1967, the year of Kanu's birth.

## Content

Kanu, who holds British citizenship, leads the banned Indigenous People of Biafra Movement (IPOB) that advocates for the secession of southeastern Nigeria, where the majority belong to the Igbo ethnic group.

In central Abuja, armed police patrolled with water cannon and armoured trucks, and fired volleys of teargas where protesters tried to gather. In other parts of the city, police were supported by armed soldiers in a show of force.

Kanu's supporters say his detention since 2021 is politically motivated and want him released and the seven counts of terrorism quashed. Kanu has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry life sentences.

More than a million people perished in a three-year civil war that began in 1967, the year Kanu was born, when the southeast region attempted to secede as the Republic of Biafra.

(Reporting by Camillus Eboh, writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Timothy Heritage)